During her six year tenure in the [[Florida House of Representatives]], Benson chaired the [[Health & Family Services Policy Council, Florida House|Health & Family Services Policy Council]] and co-chaired the Select Committee on Medicaid Reform. Additionally, she was also a member of Fiscal Council, the [[Government Operations Appropriations Committee, Florida House|Government Operations Appropriations Committee]], the Growth Management Committee, the [[Health Care Appropriations Committee, Florida House|Health Care Appropriations Committee]], and the [[Rules & Calendar Council, Florida House|Rules & Calendar Council]]. On December 26, 2006, [[Florida Governor|Governor]] [[Charlie Crist]] appointed Benson as Secretary of the [[Florida]] Department of Business and Professional Regulation; four days later, she resigned from the [[Florida House of Representatives]]. In February 2008, she was named by Crist as Secretary of the [[Florida]] Agency for Health Care Administration; she resigned from the position on October 15, 2009. <ref>[http://www.healthnewsflorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14462 ''Health News Florida'' "Benson resigns as AHCA chief" 15 Oct. 2009]</ref>

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During her six year tenure in the [[Florida House of Representatives]], Benson chaired the [[Health & Family Services Policy Council, Florida House|Health & Family Services Policy Council]] and co-chaired the Select Committee on Medicaid Reform. Additionally, she was also a member of Fiscal Council, the [[Government Operations Appropriations Committee, Florida House|Government Operations Appropriations Committee]], the Growth Management Committee, the [[Health Care Appropriations Committee, Florida House|Health Care Appropriations Committee]], and the [[Rules & Calendar Council, Florida House|Rules & Calendar Council]]. On December 26, 2006, [[Florida Governor|Governor]] [[Charlie Crist]] appointed Benson as Secretary of the [[Florida]] Department of Business and Professional Regulation; four days later, she resigned from the [[Florida House of Representatives]]. In February 2008, she was named by Crist as Secretary of the [[Florida]] Agency for Health Care Administration; she resigned from the position on October 15, 2009, in order to make a run for [[Florida Attorney General|state attorney general]]. <ref>[http://www.healthnewsflorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14462 ''Health News Florida'' "Benson resigns as AHCA chief" 15 Oct. 2009]</ref>

Political issues

Gay adoption

In late-May 2010, Benson reaffirmed her support of the decision made by the Florida State Legislature to bar same-sex couples from adopting; so far, Florida is the only state in the Union to take such action. The former state representative argued that the measure was based on the argument that the "best home for every child is a two-parent household where there’s a father and a mother" and that she feels perfectly comfortably backing that position. [3]

Illegal immigration

Benson sharply criticized the Los Angeles City Council after it voted to boycott businesses from Arizona over the state's controversial immigration measure, Senate Bill 1070 - The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, more commonly known as Arizona SB 1070. Scheduled to take effect on July 28, 2010, the legislation makes it a state misdemeanor crime for an alien to be in Arizona without carrying proper citizenship papers required by federal law, authorizes state and local law enforcement of federal immigration laws, and cracks down on those sheltering, hiring and transporting illegal aliens into the United States. The former state representative rebuked the council's charges of racial profiling, arguing that the new law "is about protecting our borders and ensuring that immigrants living and working in our country are doing so legally," not racial discrimination. [4]